It was an early summers morning, about 6am when Roy Mustang received a pile of paperwork form his adjutant, Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye. The papers consisted of letters and countless files that needed to be filled out and signed for. He leaned back in his chair and sighed heavily as Riza took a seat at her desk and started on her pile of paperwork. Roy reluctantly sat up in his chair and flicked through the pile of paper. He stopped when he noticed a letter from the North of Amestris. Fort Briggs. He noticed this one in particular as it was requesting Lieutenant Hawkeye's assistants. A mission.
"Lieutenant" Mustang called. Riza looked up from her paperwork and looked at Roy. Occasionally looking back at her hand to fill in her signature.
"Yes Sir?" she said waiting for a reply. Roy held out the piece of paper gesturing for Riza to take it. Riza put her pen down, rose from her desk and swiftly moved to stand opposite Mustang.
"You've been requested to participate in a mission in the north. They require your skills and expertise." He said bluntly.
"Ok Sir, Thank you" Riza took the letter from Mustang and began reading through it, being interrupted almost immediately.
"You will be leaving tomorrow morning at 5am. I will have Havoc take up your duties while you are gone." There was a short pause before he started again "And if you'd like, I could take care of Black Hayate until you come back." He suggested.
"Thank you Sir and I appreciate it" she gave a slight smile.
Riza didn't mind going on missions to Briggs. The only thing that bothered her was the temperature. She hated the cold and would prefer to stay in the warmth of Central. However she is loyal to her country and often put the needs of others before hers.
Riza met Roy at the train station with Black Hayate at 4:40am. She preferred to be early so there was no need for any rushing around. She handed Roy the lead with Hayate on the other end. She also handed him a bag full of the dogs essentials.
They said their goodbyes as the train pulled up to the platform. "Take care Hawkeye" Roy said to her as she stepped on the train.
"I will Sir. Take good care of him for me" she said with a smile.
"I will" Mustang replied. That's when she let out a small almost unnoticeable giggle.
"I was talking to Black Hayate Sir" she turned and took her seat leaving Roy with a slight smile on his face. His eyes looking at the black and white dog that is now in his care.
The train journey was long. It took about 8 hours to get from Central to the closest town to Briggs and then it's still an hour and a half walk in the the snow. Riza was not looking forward to this long journey. She gave a heavy sigh and let her head fall back and hit the head rest behind her, looking out of the window at the changing scenery.
The only thing to keep Riza busy during this journey were her thoughts. She thought about the mission, the fact she was there for a month, how it was going to be cold, how she will have a new commanding officer. She had met Major General Armstrong plenty of times in the past. However all in the presence of Colonel Mustang, which didn't show Oliver in the best light. She has never been alone with her. This thought scared her. 'What if she doesn't think I'm capable enough to work at Briggs' she thought to herself. 'What if she doesn't like me' Riza realised what she was just thinking and shook her head. "Why would that even matter" she said to herself. Riza has had a small crush on the Ice Queen ever since she first laid her Amber eyes on her Icy blue ones, even Roy knew of her feelings and brought it up in conversation before.
-Flash Back-
It was late afternoon and only Riza and Roy were the only ones left in the office finishing off their work before their day off the following morning. "So what do you think of Major General Armstrong, Lieutenant?" He asked putting his pen down and leaning back on his chair. He had a slowly increasing smirk growing on his face as she turned to face him. Oliver was in Central for a couple of weeks for meetings with the Führer and Roy spotted the way Riza was looking at her when he was speaking with the Ice Queen earlier that day.
"She's a strong, capable soldier Sir. No wonder she's able to run Fort Briggs" she said with a straight face, ignoring the smirk that was tugging at his cheeks. Roy raised an eyebrow and leaned forward and propped his head up on his hands leaning on the top of his desk.
"She's just your type Hawkeye, strong, blonde… breasty" he said teasing her. Riza let out a sigh, sometimes she hated herself for telling Roy she was gay, if she didn't tell him then maybe, just maybe he wouldn't tease her about it. However they were close so he would have figured it out sooner or later.
"She's an attractive woman. I can't deny that" she said blushing ever so slightly, ignoring the last thing Roy said to her, even though he was right, she was just her type.
"You like her don't you Lieutenant?" He asked. Riza didn't say anything. "That was quick, you only met her today" he said teasing her.
"Don't make me shoot you Sir" and with that Roy stopped and carried on with his work.
-End of Flash Back-
Riza sighed again "I'm hopeless" she said as she exhaled.
Armstrong received notice that the Lieutenant was on her way and would arrive at the train station in the early afternoon. She ordered two men to meet her at the train station to help her with her bags.
Oliver was making all the preparations for their intense training for the upcoming mission in a couple of weeks and wanted everyone to be fit and ready. She had no time for useless soldiers, especially on missions out side of the Fort.
Hours past and Riza reached the end of the line. She got off the train. He body was stiff from the lack of movement on her journey. She knew that this was going to make the hour and a half walk worse. She was met by two Briggs soldiers who took her bags and gave her a Briggs jacket to go over the top her uniform. She thanked them and started their hike towards Briggs.
Meanwhile Oliver was in her office filling out files when she was disturbed by a knock on the door. "Enter" she said in a cold, stern manner. A man walked in informing her of Hawkeye's arrival at the train station and will be arriving at Briggs shortly. "Go find a suitable room for Lieutenant Hawkeye to stay in" their was a short pause before she spoke again "Ohh and keep it away from the men's quarters" she said as she waved her hand in dismissal.
Riza arrived at Briggs her cheeks and nose bright red from the cold. She really isn't used to the dramatic change in the temperature. Especially when she just came from summer in Central. The soldiers escorted her to Armstrong's office. They knocked and entered her office when permission was granted. "Wait outside" Oliver said to the two soldiers, they closed the door as they left. "Take a seat Lieutenant, I need to run you though a few things" Riza complied and took a seat opposite Oliver's desk. "I should hope you know why you're here"
"Yes Ma'am. You need my skills as a sniper for a mission" she said nervously sitting stiff in her chair.
"Good. Someone will show you to your room, if you want dinner go to the Mess Hall at 6pm. Then come here tomorrow morning at 5am so I can run you through the mission and training exercises"
Riza nodded "Thank you Ma'am"
Oliver looked back down at her paperwork and carried on working. "You are dismissed" Riza stood up and walked towards the door. "By the way Lieutenant, it doesn't take long to get used to the cold" Riza gave a slight smile and closed the door behind her.
Riza didn't realise how fast her heart was beating until she sat down on her bed after her meeting with Oliver. "You're here on a mission Hawkeye. Stop this" she told herself as she flopped on the bed. Her eyes closed as sleep consumed her.
Okay so I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. The next chapter will be more interesting I promise, as you see their relationship grow. I'll update as soon as possible. Thanks for reading.
(Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or any of it's characters)
